Trigger Happy

Opinion Journal ^ | October 15, 2003 12:01 a.m. EDT | Mark Yost

[dogbrain]

WEST POINT, Ky.--A casualty list from the Knob Creek Gun Range, which hosted one of the country's largest machine-gun shoots this past weekend, would look something like this: Two dozen old appliances. A dozen junked cars. Tens of thousands of rounds of spent ammunition. Zero people.

[dogbrain]

sounds like fun

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[Tijeras_Slim]

Knob Creek "Mad Minute" Ping

[dogbrain]

PING

[RiflemanSharpe]

Wish I could have been there.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"This was the scene for much of the day. Just when you thought you'd seen it all, someone opened up with a set of twin-mounted .30-caliber machine guns, or the more lethal array of quad-mounted .50-cals in a swivel turret. The shooting continued into the night, with tracer rounds lighting up the sky in an array that would make the Gruccis jealous."

Slurp, drool. Georgia firearm enthusiast ping.

[Gunner Mike]

Why waltz when you can rock and roll?

[FreedomPoster]

I used to race motocross right down the street from there, a zillion years ago. Long before the full-auto shoots. The geography in the area is steep, relatively short (maybe 250') ridges. I'm sure they're using one of them as a backstop.

Just a few miles south of there is Fort Knox. We used to be able to get some of the training/maneuver areas cleared on weekends, and we'd ride the firebreaks and jeep trails, up and down the hills. It was a great time, lots of good memories.

[WorkingClassFilth]

"When asked by the MP5 owner if Emily had ever shot a gun before, Rob quickly rattled off an array of pistols and shotguns. "I think she'll do fine," the gun owner said."

I think little Emily will do just fine indeed. I'd be willing to bet she'll make a go in life without a scrap of help from NOW or any other whiner support. Oh yeah, watch out, scum bags! If y'all mess with that girl, don't worry about her daddy...

All in all, sounds like a good family outing. Off course, if you are left-of-center, a good family outing means something entirely different.

[RKV]

Funny what kids will pick up. My son and I were at the range and met a fellow with a brand new Bushmaster AR-15. The owner was having trouble (feeding problems) with the weapon and my 11 year old walked over to help. He field stripped the rifle, lubed it and reassembled it and the feeding problems went away. I never even had to put my Winchester Model 70 down to assist. Time to teach kids about firearms and firearm safety is when they are young;)

I better not tell sonny about Knob Creek or he will want to go (and frankly I wouldn't take much convincing).

[DBrow]

He wonders why gun people do not trust reporters, then goes on to mention 50 cal "sniper rifles" more than once, and repeats the line that they have a range of "one mile".

The antis like to call .50's sniper rifles, and stressing that the range is one mile, sets up a later expose where a reporter will be on camera with a box of .22 LR, gravely informing us that the range, also one mile like a .50 sniper rifle, is printed on the box.

He wore an NRA hat- but is he a member or was that his "reporter camoflage" to try to break the ice?

Griping aside, overall the article was pretty good, he had fun and will be a positive influence. He went out of his way to point out how many rounds are fired and the lack of injuries. I wish more reporters would get out of their offices and on the range!

[Kenton]

I was snooping around DU yesterday,and it seems that some of the DUmmies are planning to attend. I also noted some unapologetic pro-RKBA posters over there, and they must have been "regulars" because they weren't getting their posts pulled. Not sure what to make of that...

[Oztrich Boy]

He wonders why gun people do not trust reporters, then goes on to mention 50 cal "sniper rifles" more than once,

Their purpose is to fire single aimed shots at long range. They're "sniper rifles". Don't be so sensitive.

[556x45]

"These statistics will be disturbing to the myopic antigun crowd, which fails to recognize the millions of rounds fired safely every year, including the tens of thousands fired at this twice-yearly event that draws everyday folks from as far away as California and Florida. "
The safety record is immaterial to the anti's. Its the fact that 'everyday' folks can buy, carry and use guns. This single fact has the anti's nashing their teeth and wetting their panties.

[El Laton Caliente]

I had planned to be at Knob Creek last weekend for the first time and have had to work seven days a week until November. Darn!

[Joe Brower]

[Atlas Sneezed]

Griping aside, overall the article was pretty good, he had fun and will be a positive influence.

---

My only gripe was the error in referring to "tens of thousands of rounds" being fired at the event. There are individuals who fire that much. The total is probably more like in the millions.

[DBrow]

Sniper rifles are used by the military and police to kill people from a distance, usually from concealment. These are not things civilians do.

If certain rifles are labeled "sniper rifles" by the antis and the media, next comes the logical conclusion that civilians do not have the right to kill people from long distance from concealment, so why should they have the right to own the tools that snipers use?

The antis sucessfully banned the manufacture of many semiauto rifles and some pistols by labeling them "assault weapons", along with normal sized magazines. Most of the publicity used in getting the ban was based on labels and appearance.

Now they are taking a poorly defined class of bolt actions, calling them "sniper rifles", stressing accuracy and range. Link that image to the Beltway Snipers, and tie that in to one clearly identifiable class of rifles, the .50 cal, and you cannot see a ban being created out of nothing? Don't be so naive.

Now, having been through the Assault Weapons ban, which includes mostly target rifles and pistols, watching the Gun Control Act of 1968 be extended retroactively to prohibit people with misdemeanor convictions 30 years old, and seeing the 1986 machine gun ban, I think I have the correct handle on it if I think the antis are going to try to extend their Assault Weapons Ban to "certain" bolt action rifles, using the .50 as a very public poster boy. Just more reasonable gun safety legislation.

Go look at the anti's websites and see what they think of "sniper rifles", google press reports on "sniper rifles"- look into the issue as I did.

[TC Rider]

In civilian circles, these specialty rifles cost $10,000 or more and are favored by a small cadre of shooting enthusiasts in the desert West, the only place where the gun can be used to its maximum range.

Nice article, too bad he blew it all in this one paragraph. A .50 BMG can be bought for a fraction of 10K and while the desert west is a great place to shoot them, it's hardly the only place.

[Travis McGee]

I heard some scuttlebutt on Frugal Squirrel (great survivlaist forum) about the owner's new wife being the b!tch from hell and making the place miserable by gouging the campers etc.